Frustration evident after Busch-Harvick collision
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
March 20, 2006
05:41 PM EST (22:41 GMT)
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Kurt Busch knew his day basically was done when he was squeezed into the wall following the fourth caution of Monday's Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
He hopes his season isn't.
The 37th-place finish left the 2004 champion 27th in points with his new team, Penske Racing South. Only one driver, Matt Kenseth last season, has come from outside the top 25 after four races to make the Championship Chase.
Kenseth was 31st a year ago before rallying to make the 10-car championship run.
"We're a little frustrated because we think we've got a good car and a good driver,'' Penske Racing president Don Miller said. "One event right after another. I know Kurt is terribly frustrated.
"But I've been doing this for 35 years. It's the same old thing. It comes in cycles. If you don't have a little bit of patience you will drive yourself crazy.''
Patience wasn't on Busch's mind after Kevin Harvick drove him into the wall after a restart on Lap 125. He went into a profanity-laced tirade over his car radio that Miller said had as much to do with frustration from the season as it did with Harvick.
"He did lose it,'' Miller said of Busch, who was running third when hit by Harvick's car that was a lap down. "But if there's not a competitive spirit, you'll never win. He is a highly competitive guy. This all seems unnecessary to him.''
The frustration landed on Harvick, who later relayed to Busch through his spotter that he was forced into Busch by another car. By then Busch had gone through enough words to give his radio broadcast an "R'' rating.
"[Expletive] you Harvick,'' Busch yelled on his radio. "Take your provisional. You're [expletive] 35th in points. [Expletive] you Harvick!''
Harvick, apparently concerned about retaliation, fired back with a comment about the recent surgery Busch had to pin back his ears.
"If he takes a swipe at me it'll be more than his ears that hurt,'' Harvick said.
Harvick has reason to be frustrated as well. He's in the last year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing and negotiations for an extension aren't going well.
He's also 23rd in points after finishing 39th, one spot behind Bill Lester, who became the first black driver to compete in NASCAR's top series in 20 years.
Only two drivers, Kenseth and Jeremy Mayfield, have rallied to make the Chase outside the top 20 after four races in the two-year tenure of the format. Mayfield was 21st this time a year ago.
Busch nor Harvick hung around to talk about their day. They were on their way home by the time Lester finished discussing his historic ride around the 1.5-mile track.
"We might be down in points, but we'll keep digging and come back,'' said Busch's crew chief, Roy McCauley. "All you can do is put yourself in position.
"We certainly have a lot of opportunities to make it better.''
Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, Roush Racing teammates who tied for second in the points race a year ago, also are frustrated. Biffle ran out of gas to finish 16th after leading a race-high 128 laps.
It was similar to his experience at California, where he blew an engine after leading a race-high 168 laps. He is 21st in points.
Edwards, the winner of both Atlanta races last season, is 30th in points after finishing 40th thanks to a lap 44 run-in with Dave Blaney on pit road.
Edwards, who was running in top 10, suffered severe damage to the right front end of his car that got only worse after he blew a tire about 20 laps later.
"We're in a huge hole,'' Edwards said. "We had the fastest car on the race track by about a third of a second. I'd say the worst we were going to finish was second. That's the best car I've had here. Too bad we didn't get to race.
"That's just such a stupid way to ruin our great weekend. It's frustrating, but our team will do our best and reality is what it is.''
The way I saw it, Stremme pushed Harvick up into Kurt. I would have liked to have been at Atlanta with my headset tuned in to the 2 and the 29
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
March 20, 2006
05:41 PM EST (22:41 GMT)
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Kurt Busch knew his day basically was done when he was squeezed into the wall following the fourth caution of Monday's Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
He hopes his season isn't.
The 37th-place finish left the 2004 champion 27th in points with his new team, Penske Racing South. Only one driver, Matt Kenseth last season, has come from outside the top 25 after four races to make the Championship Chase.
Kenseth was 31st a year ago before rallying to make the 10-car championship run.
"We're a little frustrated because we think we've got a good car and a good driver,'' Penske Racing president Don Miller said. "One event right after another. I know Kurt is terribly frustrated.
"But I've been doing this for 35 years. It's the same old thing. It comes in cycles. If you don't have a little bit of patience you will drive yourself crazy.''
Patience wasn't on Busch's mind after Kevin Harvick drove him into the wall after a restart on Lap 125. He went into a profanity-laced tirade over his car radio that Miller said had as much to do with frustration from the season as it did with Harvick.
"He did lose it,'' Miller said of Busch, who was running third when hit by Harvick's car that was a lap down. "But if there's not a competitive spirit, you'll never win. He is a highly competitive guy. This all seems unnecessary to him.''
The frustration landed on Harvick, who later relayed to Busch through his spotter that he was forced into Busch by another car. By then Busch had gone through enough words to give his radio broadcast an "R'' rating.
"[Expletive] you Harvick,'' Busch yelled on his radio. "Take your provisional. You're [expletive] 35th in points. [Expletive] you Harvick!''
Harvick, apparently concerned about retaliation, fired back with a comment about the recent surgery Busch had to pin back his ears.
"If he takes a swipe at me it'll be more than his ears that hurt,'' Harvick said.
Harvick has reason to be frustrated as well. He's in the last year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing and negotiations for an extension aren't going well.
He's also 23rd in points after finishing 39th, one spot behind Bill Lester, who became the first black driver to compete in NASCAR's top series in 20 years.
Only two drivers, Kenseth and Jeremy Mayfield, have rallied to make the Chase outside the top 20 after four races in the two-year tenure of the format. Mayfield was 21st this time a year ago.
Busch nor Harvick hung around to talk about their day. They were on their way home by the time Lester finished discussing his historic ride around the 1.5-mile track.
"We might be down in points, but we'll keep digging and come back,'' said Busch's crew chief, Roy McCauley. "All you can do is put yourself in position.
"We certainly have a lot of opportunities to make it better.''
Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, Roush Racing teammates who tied for second in the points race a year ago, also are frustrated. Biffle ran out of gas to finish 16th after leading a race-high 128 laps.
It was similar to his experience at California, where he blew an engine after leading a race-high 168 laps. He is 21st in points.
Edwards, the winner of both Atlanta races last season, is 30th in points after finishing 40th thanks to a lap 44 run-in with Dave Blaney on pit road.
Edwards, who was running in top 10, suffered severe damage to the right front end of his car that got only worse after he blew a tire about 20 laps later.
"We're in a huge hole,'' Edwards said. "We had the fastest car on the race track by about a third of a second. I'd say the worst we were going to finish was second. That's the best car I've had here. Too bad we didn't get to race.
"That's just such a stupid way to ruin our great weekend. It's frustrating, but our team will do our best and reality is what it is.''
The way I saw it, Stremme pushed Harvick up into Kurt. I would have liked to have been at Atlanta with my headset tuned in to the 2 and the 29
